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U.S. bombs pave way for rebels
Compiled from Times wires
© St. Petersburg Times, The Bush administration expects Northern Alliance opposition forces to begin marching toward the Afghan capital "in the very near future," but U.S. officials are still discussing whether the rebels should be encouraged to capture the city, Secretary of State Colin Powell said Sunday. His prediction that the alliance would "start moving on Kabul more aggressively" came as American warplanes reportedly pounded government positions just behind the front lines about 25 miles north of the capital. The airstrikes against Taliban forces near Kabul, which had remained largely unscathed during two weeks of U.S. bombing, signaled that Washington was stepping up its direct support for rebel efforts to advance on the city. Since the military campaign began Oct. 7, the administration has been wary of clearing the way for the rebels to attack Kabul until a broad coalition of Afghan forces makes progress toward forming an interim government. U.S. officials fear that the premature fall of Kabul could create a dangerous power vacuum or spark internecine fighting among militias opposed to the Taliban. With the snows of winter rapidly approaching in Afghanistan, Powell said the United States and its allies were eager to wrap up military operations. "It would be in our interest and the interest of the coalition to see this matter resolved before winter strikes and it makes our operations that much more difficult," Powell said on Fox News Sunday. But Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, struck a more cautious tone, saying he was feeling no pressure to complete military operations. "We're doing it in a measured way," he said on ABC's This Week. "It may take till next spring. It may take till next summer. It may take longer than that in Afghanistan." Asked whether U.S. forces would kill terrorist leader Osama bin Laden on sight, Myers said, "It depends on the circumstances." "If it's a defensive situation, then bullets will fly, but if we can capture somebody then we'll do that," he said. A day after the United States began commando raids into Afghanistan, the Pentagon released the names of two Army Rangers who died in a helicopter crash related to airborne raids early Saturday against a military airfield near Kandahar and a command complex used by Mullah Mohammed Omar, the Taliban leader. They were Spec. Jonn J. Edmunds, 20, of Cheyenne, Wyo., and Pfc. Kristofor T. Stonesifer, 28, of Missoula, Mont. A Pentagon statement described them as passengers in a Black Hawk helicopter that defense officials said was waiting in Pakistani airspace to provide rescue assistance, if necessary. The statement ruled out hostile fire as a cause of the crash. Officials have suggested it was caused by dust kicked up by the rotor blades upon landing at the Dalbandin air base in Pakistan, about 60 miles from the Afghan border. A Pentagon spokeswoman declined to confirm reports carried by the Associated Press and Reuters that U.S. forces had begun bombing near Taliban front lines north of Kabul. But Knight Ridder reported that two American jets were seen streaking overhead in Jibal Saraj, inside rebel-held territory about 15 miles north of Bagram air base. Explosions were heard in the distance a short while later. "We are hoping this will be a big help for the future of our forces," said Waisuddin Salik, an opposition spokesman. "If we can control Bagram, then we would actually have an in-country base to move in not only troops but also supplies, and right now we don't have that," said Theresa Hitchens, an adviser with the Center for Defense Information in Washington. "So, it would be very useful for us to have Bagram in the hands of the Northern Alliance. Strategically, if you're going to have a ground campaign with a lot of Special Forces raids going on, it would be really good for us to have Bagram in our hands." As U.S. forces continued to roll out their battle plan, Powell said the prospect of a Northern Alliance offensive on Kabul could be at hand. "I'm quite confident they want to at least invest (surround) Kabul. Whether they go into Kabul or not, or whether that's the best thing to do or not, remains to be seen. It's an issue that's under continuing discussion," Powell said on CNN's Late Edition. With the Northern Alliance representing only about 15 percent of the Afghan population, Powell continued, there are concerns that it might actually undermine sympathy for the anti-Taliban forces by claiming the capital. "Even the Northern Alliance recognizes this problem, and they have been rather candid in discussing it with us, as to whether it makes the best sense for them to go into the city," he said. Administration officials have been working to cobble together a broad opposition front, including the Northern Alliance as well as tribal leaders from the Pashtun community, the country's largest ethnic group and the base of Taliban popular support. In particular, U.S. officials have sought to win over some Taliban commanders. By turning its fury on the Taliban front lines north of Kabul, the United States could be sending a message to government supporters that the capital is in jeopardy and they should switch sides. U.S. war planners think another important blow to Taliban morale would be the fall of the key northern Afghan city of Mazar-e-Sharif, site of some of the fiercest fighting between rebel and government forces. Mazar-e-Sharif, the last major town captured by the Taliban in subduing most of the country, lies outside the Taliban's Pashtun stronghold in the south and east of Afghanistan. U.S. aircraft have bombarded Taliban troop concentrations near Mazar-e-Sharif repeatedly in the past two weeks, including Sunday, and Powell expressed no reservations about Northern Alliance efforts to retake the city. "The Northern Alliance, which we are supporting, has become more aggressive in their actions up north," he said. "We're very interested in seeing them take the town in the north, Mazar-e-Sharif." The opposition forces reported that American advisers are now helping to coordinate U.S. and rebel ground attacks. Qadratullah Hurmat, an aide to a top rebel commander in the region, said the U.S. personnel were based south of Mazar-e-Sharif. He did not identify the Americans' service or rank. Also Sunday: In Kabul, grieving neighbors pulled the bodies of seven civilians -- three women and four children -- from the ruins of two homes destroyed by a U.S. bomb. The BBC quoted an Afghan doctor as saying the 10-year-old son of Omar, the Taliban leader, was killed during U.S.-led strikes. Four American cargo jets dropped more than 68,000 packets of food over northern Afghanistan overnight, bringing the total of rations dropped to 643,000.
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From the Times wire desk
From the AP |
